


Babysitter

by DarthChocolate



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23040913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthChocolate/pseuds/DarthChocolate
Summary: First Chapter: Intergalactic DaycareSecond Chapter: Mandalorian Babysitter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

In a space station, it was a female Cathar’s turn to work the front desk. She had seen a lot of weird families working here. This had to be one of the strangest. “Welcome to ‘Far Far Away’ Childcare Center. We offer the elite in child enrichment and cognitive development. How long is your child staying with us?”

“A couple of days,” the Mandalorian responded.

She leaned towards the little green baby in the floating sphere carrier. “What’s his name?”

“Uh hmm.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Does your culture not name a child until they reach a certain age?”

“Something like that.”  
She started filling in an application form. “Does your child have any dietary restrictions?”

“Frogs, he likes to eat frogs.”

“Well, our chef can cook him some nice Chuba legs.”

“He likes to eat them raw. I don’t want him to eat them.”

“Ok, what is his sleep schedule?”

“He sleeps, when he is tired.”

“Alright, we can work with that. Does your child have any special needs?”

“He doesn’t have any special abilities.”

“Oh no, I said special needs like sensitive to light, skin hydration or daily grooming?”

“No.”

She put that down. “Is there a medcenter or doctor that we can contact in case of an emergency?”

“No.” The Mandalorian stared up at the cameras. “How good is your security?”

“We pride ourselves in child safety as you can see. We also have five armed security droids. When our alarm is triggered, station security will arrive in three minutes. Our policy states that no one is allowed to take your child unless it’s you or someone who has been authorized by you. We can even do DNA confirmation if you like.”

“No one else. Just me.”

“Alright. Hey, little cutie,” she left her desk and went to the little green baby with the big eyes and ears. She reached over and picked him up. “Don’t worry. Daddy will be back soon.” The Mandolarian stood there slightly nervous. “He’ll be fine. Today, the children will be learning Shriiwook. Won’t that be fun?” She gently bopped the baby’s nose. “Anyway, you should give our schedule a look. After your work is completed, you could attend one of our free classes. They’re great for first time parents.” He slowly walked away. “See you soon.”

She carried the green baby inside to the large playroom. “The stories were true. Hot single fathers do exist.”

“Like you could tell that with his helmet on,” her coworker, a female Theelin scoffed. A female Wookiee roared in agreement. “She’s right. He’s probably not that furry.”

“I don’t discriminate concerning hotness. Wait, are you still bitter over your ill-fitting armor for the historical reenactment? I told you that you had to get it from a master armorsmith.” The female Cathar gently placed down the little green baby. The female Wookiee grumbled. “Yes, it is more expensive.” They were momentarily distracted. “Aww, he has already made a friend with the general’s son. His hot dad is going to be so happy.”

“I wish we only got stuck with the general’s son.” The female Theelin admitted. “His droid is trouble. It started that food fight the other day. I swear it hacked into the dessert cabinet. I don’t care if it’s some war veteran. It’s got some mouth on it for such a small droid.”


	2. Chapter 2

It was one long grueling job, but the Mandalorian Din Djarin needed the credits if he was going to find his kid’s magic people. He would have a better chance locating a slug in a large pile of bantha poodoo. He was a Mandalorian, and they don’t give up on difficult tasks. His job was concluded. He headed to the space station to pick up his little green son. Din didn’t understand why he was so worried to leave the baby there. The Empire wouldn’t dare attack a Republic space station. No one is stupid enough to do that.

As he flew his ship to the port, he saw a swarm of fighters. Apparently, the crime organization, the Exchange was that dumb. They engaged in conflict on the space station. They could be after something other than his son. Now, who was he kidding? Din raced over to the childcare center, which was under attack. To his astonishment, the Cathar receptionist and a female Wookiee were fighting off the Exchange soldiers. From the look of it, the two women had been former Rebel soldiers too. They quickly dispatched their enemies. “Where is my son?”

“Down the corridor with the other children.” The Cathar exclaimed.

“Cover my flank.” He made a b-line and broke open the door. This frightened the children. Some of them started to wail. He ignored them and searched for his son. Din couldn’t find him among the children and panics. There was a dead childcare worker and one unconscious Exchange soldier. He also spotted an opened air vent. His son might have escaped through it. “He’s not here. I’m going back to my ship to scan for him.”

“We’ll tell security to keep an eye out for him. Be careful. There still –“ the Cathar stopped, when she realized that he was already gone. She does a head count of all the children. “Oh no,” she cried. “He’s gone too.”

Din raced back inside his ship. Relief washed over him as he heard the familiar coo of his son. He lifted him up into his arms. “Hey little womp rat.”

“Su cuy’gay.” Din looked around for the unknown voice. There was no one. He bent his head down and spotted a little green haired boy.

“Are you a foundling?”

The boy shook his head. “No, I’m a youngling.”

Before he could suggest that the boy should leave, some Exchange soldiers were shooting at them. Din ducked for cover. He handed his son to the boy. “Go in the corner and stay.”

“Are you going to blow them up?!” The boy’s blue eyes lit up.

“GO!” Din wished that he wasn’t pinned down here and could reach the cockpit. With no explanation, he seemingly got his wish. The ship hatched closed, and it launched into space. Someone was piloting his ship. He rushed to the cockpit. “Huh?” It had been an old C1 droid. He only ever saw one in scrap yards. “Get out of my cockpit!” The droid beeped something. He ignored it and went to kick it. The droid responded by pulling out its’ arms and hitting him. He whipped out his blaster.

“WAIT, wait,” the green haired boy called out. “We’re friends. My aunt is a Mandalorian too.”

It would explain how he knew “hello” in Mando. “Who’s your aunt?”

“Aunt Bean.”

He hasn’t heard the name before. It might be a nickname. “What clan?”

“Vizla.”

That checked out. He put his blaster back in the hoister. He was never going to harm the boy. Though, the droid was a maybe. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Jacen Syndulla.” He pointed to his droid. “This is Chopper.”

“Weird designation for a droid.”

The droid beeped angerly at Din. “That’s his name. Mom named both of us.” Jacen related. The droid beeped again. “Chopper says you’re receiving a transmission.”

His other target must be nearby. Din couldn’t drop off the boy and his droid until it’s done. Jacen took a seat in the cockpit. “Are you a bounty hunter?”

“Yup.”

“Why are you a bounty hunter?”

“Long story.”

“Why is it a long story?”

Din sighed. “Let’s just sit back and relax.”

“Can I fly your ship?”

“No.”

“I promise that I won’t crash it. May I please fly your ship?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Does your parents let you fly their ship?”

“A little. I sit on my mom’s lap. If I sit on your lap, can I fly your ship?”

“No.”

“Can I be your co-pilot? I’m a really good co-pilot. May I please be your co-pilot?”

“No.”

“Do you have a problem with sharing?” Din shrugged. Jacen noticed the engraving on his shoulder armor. “What’s your signet of?”

“A mudhorn.”

Jacen twisted his little body. “Mine is of a Lothal Wolf. Aunt Bean drew it on my shoulder.” He glanced around. “Do you have any toys?”

“No.” Din pointed to his son. “He usually just sucks on his silver ball.”

“He needs more toys.” Jacen insisted. “So, he can improve his processor speed.”

“You spend a lot of time with your droid. Don’t you?”

Jacen grinned, “Chopper is the greatest.”

It was quiet for a while as Din flew the ship. He half expected the kid to be asleep. He turned his head and saw neither his son nor Jacen sitting behind him. He placed the ship on autopilot and left the cockpit. The two little boys were down below. Jacen was entertaining his son with some wires, a detach piece of rope and a wrench. His son was cooing happily as Jacen danced the wrench around. “Don’t play with that!” Chopper rolled defensively in between Jacen and Din. Din lowered his voice. “Isn’t there something quiet that you can do, which doesn’t involve wrecking my ship?”

“We can mediate,” Jacen suggested.

“Good,” Din returned to the cockpit.

After about a half an hour, Jacen leaped into the seat behind him. “We’re done.”

“What did you meditate on?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“We have to clear our minds. It can only speak to us that way.” Jacen rose from his seat. He came towards Din. “Pick the copper wire with the three black bands. It’s the right one.” Jacen was eerily serious for a moment. It soon past. He was bubbly excited. “Where are we going?”

“Nar Shaddaa.”

“Cool.” Jacen glanced at Din’s son. “He wants to take a nap.” Chopper beeped. “Chopper says I should recharge my fuel cells.”

“Good idea.” This left Din alone with some peace and quiet. Well, he wasn’t completely alone. The little droid made his presences strongly known by pushing and shoving Din. It might be a grumpy old droid. Yet, it reminded him of IG. Chopper ran maintenance on his ship. It ran even better now. When Din walked over to check on his son under the guise of preparing his weapons, Chopper stood in front of the sleeping boys. It was fiercely protective. Din admired that in the little droid.

They were going to need a protective droid, where they were going. At some space ports on Tatooine, you had to worry about people stealing your belongings. At other space ports on the Outer Rim, you have to be careful of someone stealing your ship. On Nar Shaddaa, you had to keep an eye on people kidnapping your crew especially beautiful females and children. Din was forced to bring all of them with him. While he took point, Chopper guarded their backs.

The Slag Pit cantina had been a favorite spot for bounty hunters. Nar Shaddaa was the sleazy version of Coruscant. The planet was littered with scan blockers and jamming devices. Bounty hunters found it nearly impossible to track their targets, once it landed on the surface. They needed an information broker. The Slag Pit has the best brokers on the planet.

Din picked a corner booth. He ordered one slice of pie, a Blue Milk and a Ruby Biel. He had never ordered the pie before. After seeing living grubs moving inside it, Din figured that he wouldn’t pick that again. Of course, his frog eating son plucked out the grub and swallowed it whole. Both he and Jacen cringed. The dancers soon visited their booth to invite them to a private room. It was a ploy to get more credits from him. Din declined their offer. All the dancers left except for one. A blue Twi’lek chatted with Jacen. They were communicating in Twi’leki. Din used this opportunity to slip away and talk with an information broker.

Unfortunately, the broker knew nothing. Din returned back to the booth in frustration and started pondering other avenues of investigation. Jacen noticed his mood change. “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t find my target.”

“Kaemon is being very sneaky because he is receiving crates of blasters tonight.”

Din jerked his head forward, “how did you know that?! Wait, how did you know his name?”

“Chopper told me,” Jacen patted the droid’s dome. “So, if we see him, we can run over his feet for you. And the nice lady, she told me about the blasters. She hates slavers. I do too.”

“Where is he picking up the blasters at?”

“At a landing pad.”

“Ahh, that doesn’t help. There are thousands of landing pads. There is no way to sort through all of them before tonight.”

Chopper beeped at Din. Jacen interpreted it. “He says it’s impossible for a buckethead, but he can do it.” The droid rolled away. They followed behind him. Chopper zoomed through the street to a locked door. He torched the lock to open it. Behind the door, there was a large terminal. He plugged himself in. To Din’s amazement, Chopper successful retrieved the data. Though, it wasn’t before the gang who owned the terminal showed up. Din took out all of them but one. Chopper rammed into the last man and knocked him out.

With the location in hand, Din rented a room for the children to stay at. “Don’t leave this room until I come to get you. Keep the door locked.” He turned to Chopper and waved his finger. “if anything happens to my son, I’ll turn you into a garbage can.”

Chopper beeped angerly. “That’s not nice, Chopper.” Jacen hugged the little green baby. “We’ll keep him safe. You can count on us.”

Din departed and scouted out the landing pad ahead of drop off time. Actually, he surveyed it from a safe distance. Kaemon Zahor was one of the leaders of the Exchange. He had his goons running security. Kaemon needed the protection. The Republic and the Dugs, who placed the bounty on him, wanted him. Din patiently waited for an opening. Kaemon didn’t give one even if Din considered sniping him. The Dugs wanted him alive to kill themselves. While the spaceship landed and unloaded, Kaemon remained in the far back surrounded by bodyguards. Probably, his lieutenant checked the shipment. The Exchange had stolen six crates of blasters and eight children. No doubt, they tore the children from their parents’ arms. It made Din’s blood boil. There wasn’t much Din could do for them. You would need a team to rescue those children. Kaemon finally moved forward to a small shuttle, which had two human children and a crate of blaster. He was covered on all sides. However, he was flying away from the majority of his goons. Din borrowed a speeder and trailed behind him. Kaemon traveled to an abandon factory. Din spied him secretly meeting some Imperials.

The Imperials didn’t just show up there. A small group of Imps came hunting for Din’s son. Chopper detected them before they closed in on the boys. They escaped, but the Imperials were still in hot pursuit. Jacen devised that they should split up. Chopper would take the little green baby, while Jacen grabbed the pod carrier as a decoy. Chopper didn’t like the crazy plan. It remined him of one of his father’s wild plan. Chopper begrudgingly agreed. Jacen got half of the Imperials to chase after him.

At the abandon factory, when the blasters started firing, the Imperial held their ground. Kaemon and his guards ran away liked scared nunas. Din slipped away from the shooting to pursue Kaemon. The fiend was crafty. He used a thick crowd of people as cover. Din could still follow him, until Kaemon made it into the elevator shaft. The rundown old shaft had no dials to see, which floor he used. It screeched so loud that he couldn’t listen for it. Din walked into the elevator. He was on the fourth floor. He had one in three odds to pick the right floor. Oddly enough, he saw a copper wire with three black bands pointing to the second floor. He pressed the button for that floor.

Meanwhile, Jacen ran the Imperial around in circles before they finally caught him. They opened the sphere carrier and marched away in a puff. It was empty. Jacen stared at his surrounding and realized that he was lost. He closed his eyes. He tired to let it guide him. After some distance of walking blind, Jacen bumped into someone and opened his eyes. The man cursed at him in Huttese. Jacen ignored him as his attention was caught elsewhere. He saw Exchange soldiers dragging a frighten little boy along. This is where he was being led to. Jacen followed the Exchange soldiers to a cantina. They planned to get a quick drink. They tied the Mon Calamari boy to a stool as they ordered their drinks. Jacen snuck over to them. His mom taught him how to pick locks. Jacen unlocked the boy’s cuffs. A cantina patron was walking near them. Jacen tossed the cuffs in the patron’s path. The man tripped and crashed into an Exchange soldier. A brawl erupted. Jacen used the distraction to make his and the boy’s escape. The boys raced to an elevator shaft.

Kaemon and his pilot were loading up his cargo onto his ship, when Din leaped out of nowhere. He took out Kaemon’s two men and his pilot. Kaemon quickly surrendered. Din cuffed him. Jacen and the Mon Cal boy popped out of the elevator. They bolted towards Din. A half a second later, Din saw what they were running from. The Exchange soldiers opened fire, once they spotted the Mandalorian. “Get Down!” Din yanked the kids behind the crate. As he defeated the two Exchange soldiers, Kaemon utilized the distraction to break free and seize a blaster. He knocked down Din and aimed his blaster. His shot missed since Kaemon fell over something. Din promptly vanquished him.

“It’s too late,” Kaemon raised his hand. He wore a transmitter ring. “My reinforcements have arrived.”

As if on cue, seven armed men appeared. Shots fired, but Din didn’t feel any of them nor did any zip by him. Both he and Kaemon bore a confused expression. A clearly female voice yelled out. “So, sleemo, you didn’t escape. Good, there is a nice Republic cell waiting for you.”

“This bounty hunter would disagree.” Kaemon attempted to cause trouble.

“MOM!” Jacen screamed excitedly. Din tilted his head to see the boy running to a green Twi’lek.

She scooped him up into her arms. “Jacen, what are you doing?! You’re supposed to be at the space station?”

“Well, there was some fighting. Everything is alright. We made new friends.” Jacen pointed to Din.

She turned to Din. “Who put the bounty on Kaemon?”

“The Dugs.”

“I don’t see a problem then.” She gestured to her two companions to lower their weapons. “We’re here to stop the Exchange’s slave trade. Kaemon is all yours.”

Din lowered his weapon. Jacen contacted Chopper, who confirmed that Din’s son was safe. Hera Syndulla, Jacen’s mother was about to leave, when she saw Din staring at the ground. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” It wasn’t entirely true. It had somewhat bothered Din that he couldn’t find the object, which Kaemon tripped on. This played on his mind as they headed to meet the others. A large group of slaves were set free. Hera and her Freedom Fighters did more than just rescue them. They had the former slaves checked out by a medic, arranged transport to take them home and gave them credits from the Exchange’s banking terminals. Din’s grin widened once he spotted his son.

His big ear son had been perched on top of Chopper. He happily hit Chopper’s dome with a piece of a pipe. The little droid whined. “No Chop,” Hera shook her head. “You can’t shock him even a little bit.” Din snatched his son away.

Jacen jumped down from his mother’s arm and rushed over to the toy chest, which a Wookiee Freedom Fighter had made for the former slave children. “Mom, can my little friend have a toy, please?”

“I don’t know,” Hera looked at the male Wookiee. He roared that they had plenty of toys leftover. “Alright, just one Jacen.”

“Ok,” though he grabbed two toys to show Din’s son. Jacen presented a tooka toy first. Din’s son jerked his head back. Jacen pulled out a blurrg plush toy next. The little green baby reached for this toy. Jacen gave it to him.

“That reminds me.” Hera came closer to Din. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of my son. I know he can be handful sometimes.”

“They all are,” Din gently rubbed his son’s back.

“Still, I owe you. If you ever need help, my friends or I will be there.” It was a polite gesture. Then, a fighter referred to her as a “general.” Din reconsidered it. A favor from a general might come in handy.

Before they departed on their ships, Jacen with all a seriousness said, “we’ll see each other again.”

“May the Force be with you,” Hera added. She unknowingly emphasized Din’s suspension. It was a common Rebel goodbye. It shouldn’t have meant anything. Her son changed that.

Din reviewed over what had happened as he loaded the frozen Kaemon inside his ship. How did Kaemon fall down? Din doubted the man tripped on his own feet. In the corner of Din’s eyes, he saw Jacen sticking his arms out. Did the kid use some Force magic?

He placed his son in his custom-made seat in the cockpit. Jacen could have done it especially after the copper wire incident. How could he have known about the copper wire in the elevator? Is that one of those Jedi things? Din tilted his head to glance at his son. “Does Jacen have powers like you?” His son just cooed and mouthed on his silver ball. “Anyway, I like the kid too, and … his mom is hot.”

**Author's Note:**

> For more information, please go to https://aurora-light-blog.tumblr.com/


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